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George Trepal was convicted and
sentenced to death for the murder of Peggy Carr.

George Trepal and his wife moved
into their home in Alturas, Florida during the early 1980s.

Parealyn
and Peggy Carr married in 1988, and Peggy Carr moved into the Parealyn’s
home, which was located next to Trepal’s home. Travis Carr, Parealyn’s
son, and Duane Dubberly, Peggy’s son, also resided at the Alturas
residence.

In 1988, Parealyn Carr renovated their garage into an
apartment, where his daughters, Delena Shiver and Tammy Reed, and his
granddaughter, Kasey Bell, resided. Trepal and the Carrs were involved
in a number of altercations, including one incident in which Trepal
threatened to kill one of the Carr children. The Carrs also received an
unsigned letter threatening harm to their family if they did not leave
Florida.

In October of 1988, Peggy Carr
began to suffer from a mysterious illness. She was admitted to the
hospital and remained there for several days before being discharged.
After discharge, Peggy’s condition worsened, and she was readmitted to
the hospital. Travis Carr and Duane Dubberly also exhibited similar
symptoms and were transported to the hospital.

Dr. Hostler suspected thallium
poisoning based on the symptoms displayed. Within one day, thallium
poisoning was confirmed. Peggy Carr’s condition worsened, and she fell
into a coma. She died when life support was disconnected in March of
1988.

Travis Carr and Duane Dubberly remained in the hospital for
treatment of thallium poisoning. Further testing revealed the presence
of thallium in other family members, including Gelena Shiver, Kasey Bell
and Parealyn Carr.

In November of 1989, officials
collected samples from the Carr household in an attempt to determine the
origin of the thallium. Tiller tested the residue in several empty
Coca-Cola bottles retrieved during the collection of samples. Thallium
was detected in the Coca-Cola bottles. The lot numbers of the cola
bottles allowed police to trace when and where the bottles were
produced.

Officials determined that it was impossible for eight bottles
containing thallium to end up being packaged together. Coca-Cola
officials claimed that they had not received any other reports of
poisoning or threats related to tampering with their product.

In June of 1988, the Carrs
received a letter threatening that they would all die if they did not
leave Florida immediately. The letter was unsigned.

The prosecution
linked Trepal to the threatening letter that the Carrs had received
because of comments he made during a police interview. When officials
inquired into why Trepal thought someone would poison the Carrs, he told
them to get them to move out.

Trepal claimed to accompany his
wife to the office every day. However, the police determined that he
either stayed at home or went to his own office each day. Thus, Trepal
had the opportunity to enter the Carrs’ residence because they did not
always lock their doors upon leaving the residence.

Also, Trepal had
worked as a chemist in an amphetamine laboratory. Thallium was a
by-product of amphetamine production. In 1975, Trepal was convicted of
Conspiracy to Manufacture Methamphetamine.

In order to further investigate
Trepal, Special Agent Susan Goreck went undercover. She attended a
“Mensa Murder Weekend” that Trepal’s wife organized under the name of
Sherry Guinn. Trepal wrote a pamphlet for the weekend that described
writing a threatening note and then poisoning the recipient of the
note.

During this weekend, Goreck had contact with Trepal and learned
that he was selling his Alturas residence and was moving to Sebring,
Florida or to Virginia. Goreck arranged to rent Trepal’s home after he
and his wife moved. After paying the rent in money orders, Goreck and a
search team went to the home.

In the garage, the investigators found a
bottle containing powdered thallium. After the discovery of thallium, Trepal was charged with seven counts of poisoning. A subsequent search
of Trepal’s Sebring home in April of 1989 turned up chemistry books and
equipment, including information about poisons.

Officials also found
the Agatha Christie novel Pale Horse, which described using
thallium to poison people in a household. Finally, the police found a
bottle-capping machine that could be used to replace the bottle caps of
Coca-Cola bottles after the cap was removed to introduce the poison into
the drink.

Trepal filed his Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court on
04/02/91. The issues addressed included that the trial court wrongly
admitted evidence, that defense counsel was ineffective, that the
evidence was insufficient for a First-Degree Murder conviction and that
the death penalty was not appropriate.

The Florida Supreme Court did
not find errors that warranted reversing the conviction or sentence and
affirmed the conviction and sentence on 06/10/93. Rehearing was denied
on 08/23/93. A mandate was issued on 09/22/93.

On
11/22/93, Trepal filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United
States Supreme Court. The petition was denied on 01/18/94.

Trepal filed a 3.850 Motion in the Circuit Court on 06/16/95. The
motion was denied on 11/06/96.

On
01/15/97, Trepal filed a 3.850 Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court. The
issues addressed included that there was not adversarial testing during
the guilt or penalty phase by the defense, his attorney had conflicts of
interest, and that juror misconduct occurred.

The case was remanded to
the trial court for an evidentiary hearing, which was held on 02/11/99.
The evidentiary hearing was reconvened on 07/06/00. The Florida Supreme
Court affirmed the appeal on 03/06/03. Rehearing was denied on
05/15/03. A mandate was issued on 06/16/03.

Trepal filed a 3.850 Motion in the Circuit Court on 10/10/97. The
motion was denied on 11/17/98.

On
10/15/01, Trepal filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the
Florida Supreme Court. The issues addressed included that the trial
court erred in allowing testimony based on hearsay. Trepal furthered
argued that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. The petition
was denied on 03/06/03. The rehearing was denied on 05/15/03. A mandate
was issued on 06/16/03.

Trepal filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Florida Supreme
Court on 06/23/03. The petition was denied on 11/14/03. The rehearing
was denied on 05/04/04.

Trepal filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States
Supreme Court on 08/13/03. The petition was denied 10/14/03.

On
10/20/04, Trepal filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the
Florida Supreme Court. On 12/06/04, the petition was denied.

On
08/17/05, Trepal filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the
United States District Court, Middle District. The appeal is currently
pending.